- 2022 2022-04-23
- Short story collection of Laila al-Othman, A night of sorrow, and Kuwaiti feminism
Speaker: 黃樂之 (Ph.D, School of Oriental and African Studies)
Time: 2022/06/09 13:00-15:00
online speech
This speech mainly focuses on the short story collection A night of sorrow, and explores how the author Laila al-Othman deals with gender issues in contemporary Kuwait through a method of compatibility of fiction and reality. Like other Arab countries, Kuwait also faces the choice of how to balance modernization and tradition in the course of history. In the process of trying to break free from Western colonialism, women are once again used as national pawns to maintain local authenticity. However, the difference is that, as a member of the Gulf countries, the emergence of oil has brought great changes to Kuwaiti society, and its relations with Iraq and Iran have caused considerable instability in the country. It can be said that under the influence of economy, politics and religion, the situation of Kuwaiti women is more delicate and difficult. Therefore, this speech will first briefly review the background of the formation of Kuwaiti feminism, and then briefly introduce the development of Kuwaiti fictional literature. It is hoped that the new direction of contemporary Kuwaiti feminist concerns in Laila al-Othman's short story collection A night of sorrow will be presented more clearly.
